Ashen and Larch
by Shabby Abby
Summary: What if Katsa had a child but decided to keep it?


**I made this after reading fanfics where Katsa got pregnant, in all the ones I read she tried to kill Po and/or gave the child away for adoption. So I thought I'd write one where she kept the child.**

Katsa woke up to sunlight streaming through the window of her room, she felt a movement next to her…well not only her room, it was Po's as well, as his movement had reminded her. She rolled over, and smiled at her lover of almost two years. The two had fallen in love but Katsa had decided she would never marry. Po didn't pressure her, he understood her and loved her as she was, not everyone understood that. Po and Katsa had been together for a so long they no longer made a secret of the fact, so now everyone they knew (and quite a lot they didn't) knew they were lovers. Many people believed they should marry and be done with it, once she actually had an old Lienid lady come to Po's palace, Po was the seventh Prince of Lienid, and begin to shout at her that it was a disgrace to the country that she would not marry him, Katsa found the old lady funny because Katsa knew what she wanted and that she would do just that, but she knew Po worried about her getting hurt by these people. Hurt emotionally of course, because Katsa was a Graceling, as was made obvious by the fact she had one blue eye and one green eye. Gracelings had unusual powers or abilities and Katsa's was survival, it was nearly impossible for her to be hurt physically or killed. Po was also Graced, unfortunately his was not a Grace that people would want to be around for Po could sense people and things around him, he could see things without his eyes and if someone thought about him when he was nearby he knew what they thought. Because his mother knew he would be used as a tool if his Grace were discovered she said he had hand-to-hand combat Grace, which was believable due to the fact that Po was a naturally good fighter and his Grace let him know if and how someone was going to attack him. Po's Grace seemed like a gift from fate for although he had two beautiful eyes, one gold and one silver, he was blind. He at least sensed shape so well it was like seeing despite the lack of color.

"Good morning, wildcat," Po said with a sly smile, as he raised his eyes to hers and sent her heart racing as usual. "Where are we going today?" he asked, Katsa usually sent them around helping someone or other as the leader of "the council" a society she had made to help against the foolishness and greed of the seven kings.

"Well," she considered, "Since you're finally home I want to let you stay here for at least a month so, why not take a day off with your family?"

* * *

><p>Katsa looked up as Po walked into their room, "Getting to wrestle with my brothers' again…" he trailed off as he saw the fear in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked rushing to her side.<p>

"I haven't had my monthlies and they should have started last week." She said in a trembling voice.

"You're pregnant!" Po realized. She saw his joy at the thought of a child and then saw it melt from his face as he remembered how much she did NOT want a child. He put his arms around her as she began to cry, "But what about the seabane." Katsa had been taking an herb to prevent getting pregnant.

"I-I don't know," she said tremblingly, "Maybe one day we came home late from a mission and I forgot to take it."

"What will you do?" he asked.

"We'll keep it."

"But…you don't want children," Po said, confused. She had thought this through; at first she had been sure she would give the child away but when she imagined doing this she felt a pain in her heart. She was irked that Giddon, an arrogant man who had proposed to her, had been right when he said she would change her mind about wanting children. But then she realized she didn't want children she wanted this child, a child that was a mixture of herself and Po. And that was the heart of the matter, while Po never pressured her she had recently noticed that he wanted children and she didn't actually mind having a child if it was Po's.

"I want this one," she whispered.

* * *

><p>"Ashen." Katsa decided, "We'll name her Ashen." Ashen had been Po's aunt and the queen of Monsea until her evil husband Leck had killed her. Katsa looked down at the baby who gazed solemnly back up at her. Katsa looked into the girl's eyes, which were both a pale blue, at least for now, there was a definite possibility the girl would be a Graceling, and felt a deep love for this tiny baby. Two weeks later, when Ashen was a month old she woke with one eye still blue but the other a dazzling silver.<p>

10 years later

Katsa looked happily at her daughter and lover as the two playfully wrestled, among the leaves of the forest floor. Katsa and Po had discovered the girls grace when, at the age of six, she had been looking over Katsa's plan to infiltrate the palace of Murgon, King of Sunder, and had made a suggestion to improve the plan. The girl had a strong understanding of strategy, mixed with her natural fighting talent she was an amazing warrior. Katsa still would not marry, feeling it would take away her freedom but she and Po mostly traveled together and took Ashen with them, while this did make it harder for Katsa to do important missions she didn't mind because she truly enjoyed spending time with her daughter. And besides, by now the girl was the council's greatest strategist.

Katsa had also, this time on purpose, had a son who she named Larch. Larch had one green eye and one gold eye. His grace was tracking, once he saw something and decided to track it he would find it. You could not (like with a dog) "throw him off the scent" by going through a river or by riding. Larch was seven years old and he sat, thoughtfully watching his father and sister

"Come on it's time for dinner." Katsa called.

Ashen giggled, "Any chance it's rabbit?" Ashen had once confessed to Katsa she thought it was funny how her parents made eating wild game in the forest seem like a normal meal. The four sat and ate.

**I'm out of ideas for now but it's not over yet. I'll write more when inspiration hits. Please tell me what you thought (this is my first story).**


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